Settlement rules

Learn about Alipay settlement rules to help you with reconciliation.

Prerequisites for settlement

Two settlement prerequisites have to be met for each settlement batch:

• The batch settlement funds meet the minimum settlement amount: The settlement is initiated when the settlement funds within each batch are greater than or equal to the minimum settlement amount specified in the contract. Otherwise, the settlement funds are accumulated until the unsettled amount is greater than or equal to the minimum settlement amount, and the settlement is triggered.
• The balance of your settlement account is sufficient: The settlement fund can be deducted only when your settlement account has a sufficient balance when Alipay initiates a batch settlement. An insufficient balance for your settlement account may be caused by a refund.

Settlement model

The settlement model is to settle according to the contract by default, which means that all the payment methods supported by you are settled together. If you want to settle based on different payment methods, contact Alipay Merchant Service business support (global.service@alipay.com).

Settlement time zone

The standard settlement time zone is UTC+8:00.

Settlement period

Alipay supports settlement based on transactions occurring within three time dimensions: daily, weekly, and monthly. The settlement periods are T+N, W+N, and M+N respectively, where N represents a variable.

Table 1. Details of settlement period

The differences in settlement periods for transactions that occur within different time dimensions of daily, weekly, and monthly are as follows:

• For daily settlement, the default settlement period is T+4, and the shortest settlement period can be T+1.
• For weekly settlement, the shortest settlement period is W+2, and the available range for the settlement period is from W+2 to W+5.
• For monthly settlement, the shortest settlement period is M+2, and the available range for the settlement period is from M+2 to M+30.

If you want to shorten the settlement period, contact Alipay Merchant Service business support (global.service@alipay.com).

Notes:

1. Alipay only settles to you on working days, not on holidays. For specific settlement days, check Settlement calendar on Alipay Global Merchant Portal.
2. The transaction period for each settlement batch is from 0:00 (UTC+8:00) of the first transaction day to 23:59:59 (UTC+8:00) of the last transaction day.
3. The specific settlement period and day are subject to the settlement contract that you sign with Alipay.

Suppose there are no other holidays except weekends. Taking the settlement periods of T+4, W+4, and M+4 as examples, the following figure shows the specific settlement day under these settlement periods:

Figure 1. Settlement days of different settlement periods

When Prerequisites for settlement are met:

• For the settlement period of T+4: The transactions on the 2nd are settled on the 8th, and the transactions on the 5th, 6th, 7th are settled on the 11th.
• For the settlement period of W+4: The transactions from the 1st to the 7th are settled together on the 11th.
• For the settlement period of M+4: The transactions from the 1st to the 31st are settled together on the 6th of the next month.

Exchange rate

The settlement exchange rate refers to the exchange rate between the settlement currency and the transaction currency, where the settlement currency refers to the settlementStrategy.settlementCurrency field in the pay API, and the transaction currency refers to the order.orderAmount.currency field in the pay API.

The settlement exchange rate differs based on different currency conversion modes:

Table 2. Settlement exchange rates of different currency conversion modes

When the settlement currency is different from the transaction currency and the settlement involves currency conversion, two currency conversion modes are provided as follows:

• Locked-in: The locked-in mode is only available for daily settlement. For this mode, the exchange rate on the transaction day is obtained. Then the settlement currency amount is calculated based on the obtained exchange rate and deposited into your settlement account.
• Non-locked-in: For daily, weekly, and monthly settlements, the exchange rate on the second day after the transaction is obtained. Then the settlement currency amount is calculated based on the obtained exchange rate and deposited into your settlement account.

When the settlement currency is the same as the transaction currency, no currency conversion is involved. The transaction amount is deposited into your settlement account immediately after the transaction is successful.

Settlement currency

The settlement currencies supported by different acquiring regions of Alipay are as follows:

Table 3. Supported settlement currencies for different acquiring regions